Bolivia, prehistoric artwork heavily damaged by Amazon fires

The fires ravaging theAmazon and spreading throughout the region (not just in Brazil) have reportedly damaged important prehistoric art sites in Bolivia. This was reported by Danilo Drakic Ballivián, chief archaeologist of the Santa Cruz department, to the France Press news agency. In particular, the fires reportedly heavily damaged rock art sites around the town of Roboré, a city of twelve thousand inhabitants in the east of the country.

“A thick layer of soot has covered all the paintings,” Drakic said, plus he also let it be known that the heat given off by the fires caused some of the stones to crack, which consequently led to some subsidence. However, the damage cannot be fully estimated at the moment. “However, we believe the damage is heavy and wide,” the archaeologist said. An estimate will only be possible after the fires are extinguished.

The city of Roboré is the “capital” of rock art in the department of Santa Cruz, and its environs are home to sites containing rock art dating from periods between 12000 and 1500 B.C.: according to the Bolivian Rock Art Research Society, there are more than a thousand examples of similar art in the country. They are mostly found inside caves, on cave walls.

Pictured: a rock art work at a site in Vallegrande, Santa Cruz department, Bolivia

Bolivia, prehistoric artwork heavily damaged by Amazon fires

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